Roy Hodgson wants Wayne Rooney to sort out his Manchester United future

NEW CONTRACT ON THE TABLE: Manchester United are set to offer Rooney a new 5 year deak [STUART ROBINSON]

The England striker has held initial talks with United chief executive Ed Woodward about a potential £300,000-a-week four year contract.

More negotiations will take place next month, but Starsport understands Rooney has indicated he wants to pledge his future to the champions.

And Three Lions boss Hodgson is keen for the situation to be resolved by the end of the season, leaving his star forward free to focus all his attention on helping England enjoy a successful tournament in Brazil.

However, United insist there are still hurdles to overcome before Rooney’s lucrative new deal is finalised.

The striker is understood to be happy at Old Trafford and believes David Moyes is the right man to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as boss.

The bumper £300,000-a-week package would make Rooney, 28, the highest-paid star in the Premier League and see him spend the peak of his career at United.

KEEN: Roy Hodgson wants Rooney's future to be resolved by the end of the season [GETTY]

“Hodgson is keen for the situation to be resolved by the end of the season”

Rooney has 18 months of his current £250,000-a-week deal to run and is said to be ecstatic that United have broken their transfer record to sign Juan Mata from Chelsea in a £37m deal.

He is also satisfied that Moyes will be given unlimited funds this summer to make some more world class signings.

Moyes has told Rooney he wants to rebuild the team around him and also make him captain next season.

A senior United source told Starsport: “Early talks have happened, although nothing has been agreed.

“But signs are very positive. He is genuinely happy now. He likes the manager and the coaches and he wants to stay.

“There is no timescale on getting things done though and many factors to consider and take into account.”

Securing Rooney¹s future would be a huge boost for United and a massive blow to arch-rivals Chelsea.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho had two offers for Rooney rejected last summer, but was plotting a fresh bid at the end of this season.

Now Mourinho¹s hopes of luring Rooney to Stamford Bridge look like being crushed once and for all.

NEW BUMPER DEAL: Rooney's new contract is rumoured to be worth £50million [GETTY]

Rooney considered quitting United at the end of last season following several bust-ups with Fergie.

But Fergie¹s retirement saw him have a change of heart and Rooney re-discovered his best form under Moyes before getting injured at the start of this month.

Moyes, meanwhile, has revealed he was chasing Mata for the last two months and admits he is surprised Chelsea agreed to sell him.

Mata will make his debut when Cardiff visit Old Trafford tomorrow night and Moyes insists the Spaniard will be the first of many big-name signings to join United before the end of 2014.

He said: “This is the first of many more to come in time. I’m looking forward to Juan being the start of it. I hope it will be the first of some new signings that will arrive, but more likely in the summer.

“I think undoubtedly we could all do with a bit of a lift. We’ve not done as well as we’d have liked to have done.

“We see this (Mata signing) as the start. We have to look to improve and I’m going to try to bring in some new players to make that happen. As I said, Juan is the first of hopefully several.”